Only the mountain etapes are interesting, all other etapes i just watch the last 20-30 minutes and i've seen enough. And I hope some unexpected youngster wins the tour, like Ullrich 10 (?) years ago. Good thing Lance is finally gone, it was so boring with him winning all the time..

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"The FBI and police threatened, instigated, and themselves conducted break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and beatings. The object was to frighten dissidents and disrupt their movements. In the case of radical Black and Puerto Rican activists (and later Native Americans), these attacks?including political assassinations?were so extensive, vicious, and calculated that they can accurately be termed a form of official 'terrorism'." (Cointelpro: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom)

it allways made me wonder as a kid, who the fuck are these people who go and watch tour de france on the streets, its like "there gonna coming, there gonna be here, any second now, there coming OMG BIKES *CHEER WOOO WOO*"

lol totally agree re: the watching a stage live -- though I hear it's a big party atmosphere and many people bring portable TVs.

I'd rather watch it on TV--they're broadcasting many live stages here in Australia-- goes until about 2am. I'll be camping in front of the TV on the mountain stages.

Big supposed doping scandal and Ullrich has been named by the Spanish press, but so have 22 others. We'll see if they arrest Ullrich when he enters spain on July 13th on one of the stages.

Vinokorouv is in--some speculation his team wouldn't make it due to some other doping scandals, so he is a possible contender.

From www.cyclingnews.com 'Of those named, a total of 22 cyclists are rumoured to be on the Tour de France start list. "Those riders named in the dossier will not be allowed to start," said Patrick Lef?v?re, president of the professional team's association AIGCP and manager of team Quick.Step.'

I hope they start testing all pro sports like they've been doing in cycling.

Punkbum: trying to think of a youngster able to do it--Popovych *maybe*--and then there is Damiano Cunego--shocking year so far though for him, but he did win the Tour of Italy recently (two years ago at 23).

www.cyclingnews.com runs a complex points-based game which is fun to play but you have to outlay $9 or so (yes, you can win a prize if you pick the right 'dream team').

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Snakes were f**king themselves long before Adam and Eve showed up to Eden.

STRASBOURG, France (AP) - Favorites Jan Ullrich, Ivan Basso and other cyclists were barred Friday from the Tour de France in the biggest doping scandal to hit cycling in years.

The decision to prevent Ullrich, Basso and others from racing threw the sport's premier race into upheaval the day before it begins.Tour director Christian Prudhomme said the organizers' determination to fight doping was "total."

"The enemy is not cycling, the enemy is doping," he said.

Riders being excluded will not be replaced, meaning a smaller field than the 189 racers originally expected.

Yep--huge scandal unfolded last night--Basso and Ullrich out, as are 20 other riders at least. Team Astuna-Worth had something like 5 riders on the tour team implicated; but not Alexandre Vinokourov--however that team won't have enough people to start so he has to pull out too.

Totally turned the Tour upside down. Don't think the organisers had any choice--better pull out all those potentially guilty than to have a cloud over all those riders during the race.

hehe its so crazy and sad... if true they used drugs, never let them ride as proffesionels again, if not then someone owns them a huge ass apology, dont think Iam going to borther with it this year, always someone on drugs.

Has there been one winner the last 15 years, they have no accussed? Lance, Riis, Ulrich and so on....

In his first public statements since his exclusion, T-Mobile's Jan Ullrich has said, "I am shocked. I still don't have anything to do with this affair."

According to T-Mobile, Ullrich sees himself "as a victim. I was in peak form and now I could cry, because I have to head home." The 32-year-old will now return to his home base in Switzerland, to get a few days of peace and quiet. "Together with my lawyers I will then set out to prove my innocence."

Ullrich said that after the decision was made public, his teammates considered not racing the Tour de France out of solidarity with their captain. "But I told them to do it with a vengeance now. I want them to fight for me at the Tour."

Oscar Sevilla also gave his comments. "It's with a lot of sadness that I am leaving the Tour de France," he said. "I can understand why my team would take such a precautionary measure, even if its hard. I am remaining calm but now I am set to return to Spain in order to prove my innocence". "

Mancebo has fronted up and retired (he was implicated as well). It could be true that some are indeed innocent--and Ullrich ain't a nut, but you never know . . . . sad if it is true because I always found him to be a positive sports figure. Gentlemanly etc.

Interesting Tour and it hasn't started yet!

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Snakes were f**king themselves long before Adam and Eve showed up to Eden.

What a difference a day makes. If any of you say the stage Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne to Morzine . . . .

Landis created the best stage in the last 10 tours I have watched.

"Without a shadow of a doubt, today will go down as one of the finest stages in modern Tour de France history. Today, a 28 year-old American by the name of Floyd Landis, written off by most after his collapse of yesterday, staged a comeback that defied logic. And in one fell swoop, he finds himself back in contention to win the 2006 Tour de France. His stage win was reminiscent of Charly Gaul's 100 km breakaway in the Alps in the 1958 Tour to put himself back into contention from a seemingly lost position, before Gaul went onto win the final time trial and the Tour de France."

Quite amazing to watch (if you like this kind of stuff). Standing are now . . .

It will be sastre or landis, 2:30 is too much to catch in a time trail..

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"The FBI and police threatened, instigated, and themselves conducted break-ins, vandalism, assaults, and beatings. The object was to frighten dissidents and disrupt their movements. In the case of radical Black and Puerto Rican activists (and later Native Americans), these attacks?including political assassinations?were so extensive, vicious, and calculated that they can accurately be termed a form of official 'terrorism'." (Cointelpro: The FBI's Secret War on Political Freedom)